Yesterday morning, I took the recycling out, and upon putting it in the recycling bin, I noticed that a whole shopping cart was in the dumpster. I wanted to come back for a picture, to point out the insanity, but a scavenger was working it. So today I carried my camera out to grab a picture. I shouldn’t have bothered. The shopping cart was stripped of all metal. The frame, the stiffening...
Alas, getting old sucks. A lot of things begin to degrade, and just stop working. Mid last year my left thumb started to become painful. At first, I assumed it was just a physical damage like I jammed my thumb. When after a month or so, it didn’t get better, so off to a doctor I went. Long story short, the prognosis was osteo arthritis. The usual treatments were tried, spica brace (OTS and...
With the recent passing of the legendary James Garner I have once again tossed the hit TV series “The Rockford Files” onto my Netflix streaming list. I had gone through the series a few years ago, reminiscing about my childhood, but this time it was to honor the memory of James. It is astounding how well the stories hold up to time. Written and filmed in the mid 1970’s, the...
This Tuesday life changed around our apartment. The big high school started the fall term, and that brought a new level of zaniness. I have posted in the past about the “kid droppers” and the insane risks they take with their precious cargo, but this deserves its own post. First sign was that I was leaving a few minutes later than usual on Tuesday. Normally not a bigger deal, just a...
Life in a moderate density apartment complex is fun, and I mean that in the most positive way. The property management team does try to be fair, particularly around “parking“. Each unit has one assigned space. There is a “permit” (a mirror hangar) that looks impossible to counterfeit. And even if you could, the spaces are assigned, so each permit is numbered. We have one...
While we have been here only a month, we have noticed an exodus of tenants. The residents are moving out in droves, hence the overflowing trash with household goods. I had wondered why there were so many people moving out, but hadn’t put much thought into it. A part of the puzzle fell into place when about a week before rent was due, there was a knock on the door. A letter from the...
Having the shock of going from ~2,400 sqft to < 1,200 sqft is enough. While we never filled out last house, we had collected a lot of “stuff“. But there are things we have lost that hurt. Today, I will talk about kitchen space Both our houses in Arizona had ample counter space. In Tucson, they were fine Corien counter tops, with ample space for gadgets. But I didn’t need to...
My work keeps me on the road a lot. I am a frequent flier, in and out of airports all over the country and the world. In the new world order, with domestic carriers trying to extract the most fees from fliers, charging for checked bags, has encouraged everyone to carry on their luggage. This wouldn’t be a problem if people had reasonable sized bags, but alas they push the envelope and try...
There is one benefit of leasing an apartment (or even a house) that I was looking forward to: Your landlord is responsible for all the routine maintenance. No longer if the plumbing springs a leak, or a drain clogs, or a hot water heater dies, do I need to call a repairman or roll up my sleeves and get it fixed. Woo hoo. Or is it? Alas, there are downsides. We have had a couple of minor issues...
Continuing on in the vein of apartment living adjustments, this episode will be about the laundry situation. As the units do not have hookups for washers and dryers, we have four laundry rooms spread across the campus. Open from 9:00AM until 10:00PM, they are convenient oases for those needing to do laundry. Of course, there are wrinkles. First – machine hogs The doors unlock at precisely...